The cliché answer is: I make images of things that have caught my imagination & I enjoy making those images filling in time now that I'm in retirement. It’s a quiet almost meditative experience; me, the brush, the paint, the canvas & the evolving image. Beyond this there has to be more surely? And those questions have taken a long while to answer & even now after ten years I'm still not sure that I have answered the question completely: What is your art & why do you paint?

The emotional answer is: My controlled brush strokes and my exuberant colours build a visual delight expressing the imagery of my mind and soul on canvas. I'm inviting the viewer to take part in a subtle abstraction of a reality by looking at the world through my eyes.  As the artist I'm striving to evoke those same emotions within the viewer as I had right from that first brush stroke.  While I'm painting I am capturing my emotional response to that chosen version of the subject. As I immerse myself in my thoughts, I have a connection with my subject and I learn about my subject even learning something about my responses to that same subject as it nears completion. In that process thoughts for another image often emerge but those thoughts have to be put on hold for the next blank canvas

 

Art is not in the eye of the art viewing public but while they view my images I hope that the reason why becomes evident. It's in the soul of me the artist overcoming my inner self-doubts. What matters & what makes it art is about me overcoming my resistance to starting that painting & then ignoring my inner voice of doubt while continuing to paint right through to the final brushstroke.

 

My art is about something rather than of something. It is not about animals or people. It’s not about landscapes or seascapes. It’s not about still lives/life? It’s not about brick perfect architecture or rivet perfect mechanical devices such as trains. All of these fields of artistic endeavour are done to perfection by artists’ that I truly admire. I doubt if I would ever have their patience or their skill. So my art is just a personal experience making images on canvas.

 

There is a world of difference between having the ability to create a nice image in paints on canvas and having the vision to make those images that are so different that they do not depressingly look like the output of every other artist.

 

Everyone is unique and every artist should strive to be unique but sadly many artists believe that the only way to be successful, as an artist, is to be like and make images like someone else’s. Sadly all they are doing is to add to that ever growing pool of sameness in those images.

 

These what I would call the ‘me-too artists’ produce images that are all so depressingly just so similar in style and content. Their images have the same message [or lack of message]. Sadly many of these ‘me-too artists’ just copy, some even painting in the fashion of a long dead famous artist. They are sadly making just images, nice images, but still just only nice images.

 

Hand-painted images have to compete for attention against all other forms of two dimensional pictorial images from say: photography, manipulated photographic images and computer generated images. Images are an almost-free commodity in today's world of the internet.

 

My art, just like that of any other artist, is a very personal thing. However it also must relate to the big world of art. My 'latest work of art' has to compete for any viewing it may get against all of those images produced in the entire history of art.

 

Today there are more living artists than at any other time in history. Art materials are cheap, safe, and so freely available. There is a thriving industry to support their every need. Today more people are inclined to have a go at making art or have a go at being an artist without following any tuition or apprenticeship.

 

 I'm lucky I was taught how to both draw and paint from an early age. Throughout my career I put that learning to good use. All artists are self-taught in that you get some paint, you pick up a brush and you paint it onto a surface in some sort of pleasing pattern. There is and there never should be anyone to guide your hand. The shrewd artist soon learns what works and what does not work for them. They also strive to move their art forward with every painting producing a better finished result than the last image.

 

Sadly more people today than at any other time in history claim to know less about art, still less about artists. They remain convinced that art is not for them, it must be expensive to be good & it’s not for that blank space on their wall

 

It is very difficult & brave decision to stand out from the rest. Art for me is about having a vision. Those past masters in the world of art had it & they painted their vision. Many living artists genuinely paint what is burning inside them. If you like, they made those images from their very soul.

 

As an artist I often get the comment. "That's amazing, how do you even come up with those ideas?"

 

It’s what I do because I'm an artist, it’s what I do. I think things through. I see things very clearly in my mind's eye, but then that does not always happen in the proverbial flash. I could have been thinking about it for some considerable time before it became that clear visualisation in my mind. A design is made. A colour choice is made. And until that painting is finished very little else is of any importance.

To me, as the artist, the most important factor is just how close the finished painting comes to my personal vision for that image. When I have created an artwork that meets those expectations that I had when I began, I have succeeded.

 

 My images will never be available as any cheap mass produced reproduction. That is an art business decision that I made at an early point in my career as an artist. Hand painted art images produced using the finest acrylics on stretched canvas are something I'm proud of. So this is something that my art is about.

 

The greatest slight to date was a comment that my art images must be just hand finished Giclee prints? Because I produce series of very similar paintings!  Yes I do. They are all hand drawn copies of an original design from my personal design book! Giclee prints [up market coloured photocopies] are the basis of what should be cheap mass produced wall art. Sadly these prints are often sold as ‘limited edition collector’s items’.

 

My paintings reveal a calm timeless image & some with more mystery than another. My art offers a calm inspirational reminder of a simpler world or a simpler time. Feed-back from my viewers and collectors support this assertion. I share only the best of my art: only those that I love, only those that have come close to the message I want to share. I'm in control of my reputation as the artist & by being selective I hope that my paintings reveal me to be an artist.

 

My art has to be bold & it has to be colourful. My art is always about something rather than of something. My art focuses on thinking about what was once there.

My paintings are often about something that was once very beautiful but is now in ruins or they are a colourful allegory of a literary theme. It’s possible that I could sell more work if I were less selective.  For me my definition of success is not how much I sell, it’s about being true to my art vision. I want only to create work that is a reflection of who I am as an artist. 

 

I do not want my reputation as an artist to be diluted by those few dud paintings that are inconsistent with my message or art vision. I do not let anything out of the studio that is not up to my standards. Though my collectors might just love to have them, if they are not up to my standards & they do not share my art vision, that image will remain unseen. Even so as an artist, I may love a particular painting I should be judged by what others see in it.

 

In today's overcrowded art market and as long as I can physically paint and afford to paint I will paint what I want. I consider myself to have the best job in the world, I'm an artist. Ultimately some people may not like my artistic vision. Some people may not even like my work. It took some practice not to get affected by this sort of criticism.

 

Art just as every other industry is going through both a recession and a transformation, and all artists' need to recognise this fact. Artists need to think long and hard about what they make and just how it is seen. Then think about who & where their art consumers are, what their needs are. Is it possible to deliver their art to those new consumers profitably?

 

I suspect that art is now just an online viewing experience that is browsed for a reason, for a time but only as a diversion & not with any great intent other than to ask the question: do I linger over this on screen image or click over to the next image? My art somehow has to make that viewer pause just that second longer before they move away.

Post script: I deliberately used the word 'image' in lieu of 'painting' or work of art' or 'artwork'...because on a recent visit to a well known museum art gallery most of its visitors were capturing their  'images' on their mobile phones rather than standing and studying any one painting...

 

Thank you for reading this.

The four main artists' brush shapes are: rounds, short-flats [brights], long-flats and filberts.

Like every artist starting out back in 1996 I bought a wide selection of brushes some with shot handles, some with long handles, some with every suitable bristle mix for use with acrylics, some of every shape etc. Many of them are still as new with their protective covers still in place, just gathering cobwebs & dust through not being used. So all of these brush shapes can all be found in my brush pot. The select few are well used favourites.

 

The decision for me the artist, working in acrylics, is: which one brush shape is capable of producing the brush marks that I want to show on a finished artwork? There is also the for me a less important factor of just how much paint will that brush hold?

 

For me the short-flat or bright is the brush of choice.

After several years of painting I have devolved to the short-flat or bright brush as being my best and favourite tool. Some brands of brushes suitable for heavy acrylics, in this shape,soon show signs of great wear & tear. They are still of some use for those less important brush strokes or for pulling special effect gels around on the canvas, or for painting with sand finished paints. These sorts of special finishes quickly wreck a good brush.

 

Short-flat is a reference to the brush-bristle length and not the handle length!

Handle length is a personal choice, I need to paint with my head close to the canvas in order to see exactly what I am doing [short sighted with tunnel vision issues] and I can only hold a brush as if it was a pen [grip issues]. So those short handled brushes are also important for me. Otherwise I would either nock my glasses of or poke my eyes out.

 

Brights have shorter bristles

This tends to make them stiffer. They also tend to force paint out to the edges of each brush stroke. This leaves a very prominent permanent brush mark on the canvas, which I like. They are  very good for short thick strokes but not so good for longer flowing brush strokes. They give the precision that is my art, those sharp boundaries between the kissing blocks of colour.

 

 For those longer flowing strokes, flats with longer softer bristles, hold more paint and help make those longer brush marks.  Often the difference between brights and flats is so minimal that I find it almost impossible to tell which one I have selected. I simply get on and paint. Just check out any of my 'Moon Series of Abstracts' to view the effects these brushes create.

 

From the brush marks in the artworks of the great artist, Vincent Van Gogh I would think that he also used brights. His artworks always show those characteristic brief, staccato strokes that are thinner [in paint thickness] in the middle and thicker at the edges.  It is said that Van Gogh cleaned, in the sense of wiped his brush, after every brush-stroke and then reloaded his brush in readiness for the next brush-stroke. Its the method that works for me too.

 

Brights, stiff short flats as exemplified by the UK Rosemary & Co's. Ivory Short flats [with short handles] give the very precise paint strokes that I employ in my artworks using heavy acrylics on canvas. They are a very long lasting brush keeping a good edge too, my favourite. It is often said that any cheap brush is good enough for painting with acrylics because acrylics are so hard on the brush bristles. The quick wearing out with some brands is not economic in the long term. However, a good longer lasting brush offers a greater economy.

The name  Meltemi sounds romantic and oddly soothing. It is derived from: the old name of Meltemia, or the Etesian Winds. From classic Greek mythology its controlled by Boreas, the god of the North Winds.

 

The reality is a dry wind blowing down from the north sweeping across Greece and heads south across her Islands roughing up the otherwise tranquil seas, swamping small craft, challenging ferries, and shutting down the hydrofoils. It also can churn the waters, making them dangerous for swimmers, and blows sand at sunbathers on north-facing beaches.

 

These winds come from out of the Balkans and last for days. The wind howls for hours on end, doors slam, windows rattle, people get edgy & dogs bark. The Meltemi usually cools down temperatures and can be a welcome relief in the hot days of July and August. The winds are  a problem for fire-fighters as they can drive forest-fires very quickly over a long distance.

 

Meltemi, more accurately The Meltemi's many years ago was used as the Ten-Pin Bowling team-name for my wife and I. Yes we are committed Greckophiles. I started using the pseudonym of Meltemi in 1990  for writing in various on-line forums.

There is a name problem this website was going to be 'The Art of Phil Kendall'. Simple enough art is what I do and that's my name...but in the UK alone there are another 137 Phil Kendall's on line all slugging it out and many of them artists too.

 Surprisingly given the large number of Greek websites, using 'Meltemi' and the confusion between an 'art studio' and a holiday 'studio accommodation', the name: The Art Studio of Meltemi was not taken it was also available as a domain-name for this website back in 2007, the rest is history.

UPDATE 01-09-11 www.artofphilkendall.com becomes available and it's mine now.

My technique Is direct painting, also known as alla prima or premier coup painting, a brush-stroke of paint is applied to the canvas with the intention of it becoming part of the finished artwork without planning to paint over it again when it is dry to make it: darker or lighter, or warmer or cooler. Retouching or over-painting after that layer of paint has dried seldom happens. There is nothing new or revolutionary here, the ancient cave painters started this method. The flat well-loaded paintbrush is always dragged down/across the canvas squeezing a thick brush-trail at the border of the stroke.

 

 I try to complete the artwork in just one attempt. So much thought & planning is put into the preparation stage. Each brush-stroke of colour must be put on the canvas so that it states simultaneously the location, size, and shape of the area. As the artwork progresses, each brush-stroke must relate accurately to every other colour that has already been put on to the artwork. Ideally when the last bit of bare canvas is covered, the picture is finished & no retouching is needed.

 

My Niche: Physically I live on the edge of a City & The Fens. So should I paint: Landscapes? Floral Artworks? Portraits? Animal Portraits? Still Life's? All of these are done by other artists in a way that I never will be able to do in the time that I may have still available. There are master's in each field of artistic endeavour, I would never be in that category in the time available [the down-side of returning to art late in life]. I travel a lot. I take lots of photographs  mainly of city-scenes & buildings [I'm city to the core] I paint some of them in acrylics on canvas. This is my  niche. Finding it  took some time but with every  painting I made it became clearer to me what being an artist is about, its making artworks  that I enjoy. Its about the memories captured in my photos being converted to works of art.

 

My Style: Finding my style was not hard. I have a simple direct approach. It has clear colourful shapes. This shape fits alongside that shape, there is a sharp boundary. In essence its a continuation of 25 years in a classroom with chalk in hand and a blackboard. Its about hand crafted draughtsmanship too. The building is the subject, it fills most of the available space with a hint of sky, background & foreground. They are simply subordinate to the subject. I do not wish for them to detract the viewer of my colourful subject. It is art cut-down to the essence of the subject.

 

Art is about making the viewer: pause, take a closer look & become immersed in the visual excitement of the artist’s interpretation of their subject matter: to make them think and interpret what they are viewing. Usually it’s the creative use of colour that  arrests them first . I am very aware that the colours I use are bright. I'm drawn to bold colours to describe the elements in my compositions. 

I try to make use of a unique, non-traditional approach to colour. My colour choices are intuitive & my idea is always to push the boundary to see what might happen. The most important thing is not to fear any colour but to experiment and learn from it.

 

 keeping the brush clean helps avoid painter's mud. My brush is cleansed at the end of every stroke and then reloaded with colour again it ensures that my colours are always crisp, clear and clear. I paint almost exclusively with a short-flat [bright] brush previously dipped in flow-improver solution, then blotted. 

The snobbery of only using a restricted palette and mixing every colour holds no attraction for me. I have a limited time and I use it for painting, not mixing colours.  I use every manufacturer's range of 'Artists' or 'Professional' Acrylics and practically every bold permanent colour produced. I'm no great fan of the fugitive fluorescents or the interference formulations. I am however a great fan of metallic and iridescent acrylic.

 

The colours on my palettes? Here I will have one for each main colour say the blue-palette it will have the nearest blue to the one I want to use along with a darker blue and some titanium white [this is quicker than mixing white and more economical]. I  mix my blue colours before I begin my painting to make sure that the colours on my palette are tonally what I have in mind and a quick brush-full pained on a very white card will confirm it for me.